Pull-apart Pizza pesto & cheese pastry

בס"ד

 

 

After making the wonderful dough for the Nutella rugelach, I decided to try it out with another great pastry - Pull-Apart brioche-style bread filled with pesto sauce and cheese recipe.
What can I say? You can't stop munching it, so go ahead and make it.

 

A few notes before we begin:

*The pastry is best when you serve it fresh and warm out of the oven (careful not too warm).
*After making, keep the pastry in an airtight container in the fridge; before serving, warm it a bit in the microwave, and then it will be perfect almost as before.
*I really love this specific sauce by Shneider's  - Pesto Alla siciliana (This is by no means an advertisement for the company. I genuinely love this product and buy it whenever it's available in our grocery store.) You haven't find the pesto I recommended?! no problem! Use whichever sauce you love and think will fit here, such as pizza sauce or any other favorite.
*I made this a pull-apart bread style, but you can make it as individual rolls.
*Can I make this recipe with a sweet filling? Yes, of course! This dough is perfect, either sweet or savory. I already made it as a rugelach pastry, as I mentioned above.
*You can fill this pastry with whichever cheese type or fat percent you prefer. You can use mozzarella, kashkaval, cheddar, low-fat cheese, etc.
*You can knead this dough by hand. It will be a bit of work than in a stand mixer, but still as great.

 

Pull-apart pizza pesto and cheese pastry/recipe: Con Delight
I measured using universal cups and spoons
Ingredients for a heptagon (about 28cm/11in diameter, 6cm/2in height)
For the dough:
500 grams/1.1 pounds of all-purpose white flour, sifted
1 Tablespoon dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 L eggs
100-gram/3.5 oz. butter, melted (no need to melt all the way through -see attached video)
2/3 cup milk

Filling:
Shneider's pesto sauce Alla Siciliana
Slices of desired cheese, cubed (you can use as many cheeses as you want. I used about 3-4 slices)

Brushing mixture:
1 L  egg yolk
1 Tablespoon milk

Preparation:
Mix the flour and yeast in the mixer's bowl. Add in the salt and sugar and mix well.
Add the eggs, butter, and milk and knead for about 10 minutes until you get an elastic, soft dough.
Then transfer to a greased bowl and coat the dough in oil from all sides. Cover with cling film and let rise for 45 to 60 minutes. In wintertime, the rising time might be longer.

Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a working surface and knead a little using your hands to deflate it slightly and get a smooth round ball.
Cut the dough into two equal parts and set one dough aside, and the other roll into a thin rectangle on the working surface.
Spread with the pesto sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Roll into a roulade and cut slices. Place the pieces in the pan and do the same with the second part of the dough.

Once all the slices are in the pan, cover with nylon wrap and rise for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 180C/356F, turbo (fan mode).

When the slices ready, brush with the egg yolk and milk mixture and bake in the oven's middle rack for 30 minutes.
When the pastry is ready, take it out of the oven, let it cool a bit, and start pulling apart and enjoy every bite.

I cut slices of the pastry with a wooden spoon because the pastry was fresh from the oven when I filmed the cooking tutorial, and it was so so hot to handle it.
Keep in an airtight container in the fridge and warm in the microwave before serving. Enjoy!
Don't forget to tag me and share your creations with me on my Instagram or Facebook.